2.12 Trapdoor
Wednesday, December 17, 9/8c
Help support Zennish.Net!
Any amount will be welcome. Thank you!
Coding and Layout by Monic
Charlie Crews has just returned from hell. Exonerated after 12 years in prison for the horrific crime of murdering his best friend's family, Crews has his job back, and a multi-million dollar settlement to boot. With the help of his dedicated lawyer, Constance Griffiths, Crews has managed to clear his name and is back on the job with LA's finest as a detective. But, life isn't all it was before prison. His wife has moved on, marrying another man and having children after silently serving him with divorce papers during his first year in prison.
Now, with more money than he knows what to do with, Crews settles into an empty mansion with his best friend and former prison mate -notorious inside trader Ted Earley - who now lives above the garage and manages Crews's financials.
The only thing that kept Crews going in prison was a tattered copy of The Way of Zen. Out of prison, Crews has upgraded his book to an iPod and cassette tapes for his car. But, is his strict and potentially irritating adherence to Zen a sign of a changed man or a mask, ready to slip at any moment?
His new partner, Dani Reese, a former undercover narcotics cop, is also another misfit in the Department. A recovering drug addict just out of rehab and given a second chance to prove herself, Reese is wary about her recent demotion and irritated to be taking partnering with a potential loose cannon like Crews. Her frustrations grow as her Lieutenant, Karen Davis, pressures her to rat out Crews for any trivial misstep. Davis is convinced Crews is back for revenge and is eager to get rid of him before he starts trouble for her or her department.
While not solving crimes with his new partner, Crews has a penchant for fresh fruit and pretty girls, so long denied both sensual pleasures in prison. Crews's lawyer Connie is starting to express less than attorney-like feelings for her star client. He also has revenge on his mind; he keeps a "conspiracy wall" in a locked corner of his mansion. Who set him up? Why was he framed? And, who might still be covering it all up? With photographs of his old partner Bobby Stark, Karen Davis, and even Dani Reese and her father Jack Reese, he's having a hard time telling his friends from his potential enemies. When he discovers the possibility that there might be a young survivor of the murders, a girl he loved as a niece, Crews's drive for answers becomes more urgent.
Life, despite its police procedural trappings, is a character study following individuals who were damaged and given a second chance.
Life deals with themes of light and dark, the path chosen and the path not taken. Questions of faith, second chances, opportunity and the ability to forgive oneself for failure or shame are strong themes in this show. Above it all, the theme of partnership towers, like a beacon guiding both Reese and Crews in their hour of need. Both partners have an innate understanding of each other, though Reese is less open to accepting Crews as her partner. Slowly, she realizes his unorthodox approach to the job and life have more depth and validity than she first gave him credit for.
Will Reese be able to move on from her past failings and accept herself as a good cop, a person worthy of living free of addiction?
Will Crews be able to adjust to the fact that being out of prison doesn't mean he really has access to his old life? That, while he got his life back, the world has moved on without him? Can his new partnership provide the ballast he needs to survive on the outside?
Will he chose the path of Zen, or will he risk everything he's been given back to find out the truth?